If I hear one more rooster at 4 AM...10.17.06

Greetings from the hottest country in the world – I actually think that's true and if not, I'm not exaggerating. I knew it would be hot here, but I didn't really grasp how hot it would be. I'm surviving quite well in my new home and slowly adapting to the change of climate. It's very dry here because I'm pretty much in the desert, but it's gorgeous. I'm surrounded by the falaise, which means the cliffs and the Falaise de Bandiagara is where the Dogon people live and they are the cliff dwellers. I haven't visited yet, but I have some fellow volunteers who live in Dogon villages in the cliffs. I cannot wait to see that, it's going to be spectacular.

After some initial problems with my house, including some bad water leaking, things seem to have been patched up quite well and I'm trying to get situated. I took a trip to Sevare, my regional capital, to order some bamboo furniture, so I have to wait until about November 10th to get that here. So, it's kind of a pain still sleeping on the floor or ground, but it's like camping…for two years. But my goal is to have all things here situated by the end of November, so that will be really good I hope.

I haven't really been up to a whole lot. Between now and January when I return to Bamako for more training, my job here is to integrate into the community and learn and practice my languages. So, I don't have any work to do which is difficult. I went from being super busy at school to having a scheduled life here to nothing now. I've been going to the radio station everyday to hang out though and get to know my working counterparts, so it's good. All and all, things are well and I'm really starting to like it here so that's exciting. I'm sure that after I'm comfortable with my surroundings and language skills I'll really love it here.

I hope you're all doing well and that school/work/life is treating you well.

Take care and we'll talk soon!

Photos of Mali - 09.27.06

Hi Again Everyone -

Just a quick note sending my photos in Mali so far. There are a bunch and if you have any questions, let me know.

http://community.webshots.com/user/SarainMali

Mali - the Land of Wonder - 09.25.06

I know that it's been over a month since I've last written, so bear with the length of this letter! I think the last I told of was my visit to my future site. I spent a week in Douentza and it went okay, but I didn't love it. Luckily, I'm with another volunteer and it's a town of about 10,000 so I'm sure it's going to be fine. I had a huge language barrier when I was there, but I know I'm going to pick the language up really quickly and it's not going to be a problem. After site visit, we returned to our training site, Tubaniso for about a week. It was so frustrating to be here because after a week away from my homestay family, I missed them like crazy and wanted to go back very badly. So, after a week of dealing with it here, we finally returned back to Banankoro, my homestay village. I don't think I can express how happy I was to be there! Just seeing my huge, fun and crazy family was amazing, but sad at the same time. The day we returned, I knew I only had 17 more days to spend with them before leaving for good. So, I spent the next two and a half weeks spending as much time with them, just sitting and talking and laughing and joking. Also, we moved into Phase II of our training, which meant that I would be having less language class and more "technical" training. For me, this meant that my team and I would have to create, market and sell a product in our village. But this was good, we decided to make soap with the women's association and teach them how to make soap and hopefully create a sustainable project for them to generate some income. At the end, we wound up making soap and selling it to all the women who helped us and then we even had a profit to give to the women in order to continue doing this soap project. So, I'm really hoping that my little mark, thus far, can leave a bit of an impression. My host Mom, who was really integral in helping us figure out our project, was so happy in the end and so, whether or not is lasts, I know that I've helped a little and that I made someone happy.

Sunday was probably my hardest day in Mali, so far. It was my last day at my homestay village and really emotional. Saturday night I wanted to sit around and chat with my family, but it's rainy season here and that got cancelled with the torrential downpour. I wound up sitting in my Mom's house with her and eating dinner – the family slaughtered a chicken and cooked it for me. My friend Columba who speaks French and was so important in Banankoro for helping me communicate with my family, came over and helped me thank my host Mom for everything she had done. Until this point, I didn't think Malians cried. But my host Mom started crying and I got really sad too, but I kept it together. After we got past the emotions we joked all night and it was great. In the morning, however, a bunch of my family helped me carry all of my stuff to the school to be picked up. Two of my Mom's came and they cried and I was on the verge of tears too. However, it wasn't until my little brother, Seguba – who I want to bring home – started crying that I couldn't contain myself. I started crying and my host Dad made some people go home so we wouldn't all cry. It was ridiculous, but it was so nice. It's weird that after two months and not speaking a language with people that you can bond so much and cry when leaving. So, I'm definitely going to visit Banankoro when I go to Bamako and especially when I have friends/family visit.

So, now as I'm writing this we're back at Tubaniso for a week before our big day – Swearing In. It's held at the Ambassador's House and it'll take place Friday morning followed by a pool party and then partying all night in Bamako. So, on Friday I officially become a volunteer, having successfully completely my French exam and my cultural immersion. It's going to be great because almost all of us had Malian clothes made for the event. I have a cute dress that I'm wearing, and a headwrap – amazingly funny pictures to follow! Then on October 1st, I leave for Douentza, my new home. It's nice because Peace Corps transport will take me and my site mates to the Douentza area instead of having to deal with public transportation. This whole process is called Installation and perhaps one of the scariest moments here will be when the Peace Corps vehicle drops all of my stuff off and leaves me to figure out my life. It'll be okay, and I am looking forward to it and looking forward to learning my new language and building relationships with everyone – it really is the opportunity of a lifetime.

On a slightly sadder note, some relatively old news: At the beginning of September two Peace Corps Mali volunteers were killed in a boating accident on the Niger River. It was a really rough night when we found out. Most of us knew these two volunteers in some capacity and both of them were very close to the end of their service. Being in a country half way across the world, we are all united here and so it was a huge tragedy in the Peace Corps community. On the upside, I wanted to reassure any of you who might have heard, that I'm fine. My health has had its ups and down – nothing grave though. I'm doing my best to keep it this way!

Thanks for everyone who has written, it's so nice to hear from you and your stories and your news. Please continue to tell me how your lives are going. I miss you all but I can wait to come home. One last thing, for anyone wanting to send mail, my new address is:

Sara Rosen, PCV
Corps de le Paix
Douentza, Mali

I know it's the most generic address, but I guess it works! I look forward to hearing from you soon. I promise I'll put pictures up online as soon as I'm situated at site and I'll send some even sooner.

One Month in Mali - 08.26.06

Well, it's been about a month since I've been here and a lot has stayed the same, but there are some new developments. The major thing is that I'm leaving tomorrow to visit my permanent site! It's a city called Douentza, east of Mopti about 2 hours. I'm going to be working with a radio station and internet cafe, as a primary project, and also working on tourism in my freetime. The information I was given wasn't too descriptive, so I don't know everything that's going on. However, after my 12 to 13 hour bus ride tomorrow, I should know a little more. It's great because I'm going to be going with a whole new group of people that I don't really know yet. So, it's exciting to meet and get to know the people who I'll be spending the next two years with. The other really good thing is that I'm at the same site with someone else. His name is Fikru, and he's Ethiopian-American and his French is amazing! So, it'll be really good for the first couple of weeks until I really get on my feet with my language skills. I'm also starting my new language this week, and that'll be interesting also because I have a tutor who I can work with all week.

I know it's not too much of an update, but my mind is kind of all over the place preparing myself for tomorrow's travel! I'll be back in a week though, and be sure to let you all know how my new site is.

I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier - 08.15.06

Wow, I know it's been awhile since I've left, but I wanted to write to you and tell you what's been going on. I arrived safely in Mali three weeks ago and it's been pretty interesting since then. We had a week at our training site, Tubani So, which means House of the Doves (Peace Corps logo has doves on it) and it was kind of like summer camp. We had a lot of cross cultural sessions, some Philosophy of the Peace Corps, etc. and some language lessons. It was a pretty sweet life there with really good food and forks and toilet paper. Two weeks ago we found out where our homestay would be and mine was in a village called Banankoro. Its south of the capital about a half hour and it's pretty rural. We have about 2500 people in the village and my family is interesting, to say the least. My family is Muslim, so I have a Dad and four Moms, plus a couple Uncles and a boatload of kids. In my concession there are about 30 people. So, it's never a slow time! I've been given a Malian name, which is Fatumata (or Fatim for short) Coulibaly and it's been really good. No, I don't have electricity or running water, but I don't find it difficult at all. I have bucket baths everyday and I have a lantern that I use to read and do work at night. The problem is that I have a tin roof (which is a sign of wealth) and it makes my room unbearably hot, especially with a kerosene lantern going. In general, I'm finding it to be difficult to speak with my family. The local language here is Bambara, but I'm actually buffing up on my French right now. The problem is that my family only speaks Bambara.
Therefore, we play a lot of charades. It's good though, I mean, I'm able to get my point across and when I can't, a friend of the family is often there to help translate, and he speaks French. I actually just found out the other day that after I reach a certain level of French that I'll be taking Fulfide, or Peul, which is the language spoken in Mopti/Djenne (the famous mosque if you know of it), which is great. Almost no one knows where they're going yet and so the fact that I know is exciting. Now that I'm back at Tubani So I'll have the chance to read up on the area. What else can I tell you? Well, about the food – barely anyone in my village (other volunteers, there are 13 there) has utensils to eat, but it's awesome. I'm usually eating rice with fish and sauce or macaroni. Breakfast is standard – a French loaf of bread with tigidigi (peanut butter, which they make here!) or eggs. But it's cool – it's not Indian style where I had naan or chipathi to gather the food, it's just scooping a bunch into your hand and getting it in your mouth without making a mess – it becomes much easier that it sounds. Even when we had dinner here tonight, I grabbed a fork, but I didn't use it. I'm definitely immersing myself!

Let me tell you a little about my "culture shock." Other than living in a polygamous community, I'd have to say that so far, Mali is pretty "African." The kids run around in a constant state of dirtyness, wearing western clothes that are ripped and in a pretty bad state. It's really hard to know that some of the clothes that we donate in the states are being sold wholesale to African companies who sell them for cheap at the markets here. So, if you've ever thought that your old clothes are going to a good cause – they're not – they're going to fuel an American business. I'm not saying I have a solution, but it pisses me off. The only other thing that has really caught me off guard is the garbage around. There isn't any semblance of sanitation here, like a municipal garbage collection, so in my concession there is a large pile of garbage where our donkeys, chickens, goats and sheep live and eat. It's just new, you know? So the idea is to create as little garbage as possible.

All in all, everything really is going well. It's hotter than hell here, but you know, it's going to get better. We have ceiling fans here at Tubani So, so I'll be living in luxury until Thursday. We visit our sites soon, which is good because I'm really excited to meet my new host family and struggle to speak a language I don't know. Maybe they'll speak French! Anyway, for now, I'm going to be done. I hope you're all well and I hope to hear from you soon. Please let me know what's new with you and what's going on. I look forward to the latest developments!

Love always,
Sara